The Snowflake Town Council addressed a longtime flood control issue Feb. 8.
Geotechnical engineering work must be completed on the Southern Solution to address issues related to the embankments of Phase 1, Snowflake Finance Director Brian Richards advised the council.
The Southern Solution is a project that will control flooding, and it has been in progress for several years.
Richards explained that early in the process they didn’t have a full understanding of what they wanted to do. It was recommended that berms be treated, which would be very expensive for the town, as Richards stated, “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The project site is located north of State Route 277, west of Snowflake and affects drainage basins, which include embankments that will detain flood flows for “a relatively short time,” according to engineer Rob Toy.
In a letter dated Jan. 28, Toy states, “The maximum water depth will be approximately eight feet for a period of approximately 3½ hours. Both the rise and fall of the water surface are calculated to occur rapidly.”
Richards was seeking approval for LMT Engineering to perform the geotechnical work at a cost of $7,750, noting, “They are ready to do it and can start tomorrow if you approve it.” Richards summed up the request by stating, “We need to spend another $7,750 to save us a couple hundred thousand.”
“Basically the project has been rescoped since the time of the initial work and design has changed some by doing a revision to geotechnical work. It potentially will save us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” explained Town Manager Paul Watson.
The council unanimously approved the proposal for geotechnical work with LMT Engineering, not to exceed $7,750.
In other business, the council approved awarding a construction contract for the one million gallon tank at Well No. 1 Rehabilitation, Phase I to Superior Tank Solutions. This is the town’s largest tank, and it has been in use since 1968. The tank has not been drained, inspected and repainted for 22 years, and Town Engineer Rob Emmett explained that this is the first step in providing rehabilitation for the tank. Five companies were contacted and three bids were received, including Riley Industrial Services Inc., $17,240; MMI Tank and Industrial Services, $11,170; and Superior Tank Solutions, $2,900. Emmett said that bids recommended the same number of tests, so he didn’t know why there was such difference in the bids. The council unanimously approved awarding a $2,900 contract to Superior Tank Solutions.
